The Eye of the Storm
by kayjaylew
Summary: The former zodiac have two choices: Either they leave Yuki for dead, or they somehow try and regain their curse, and use the "bond" to their advantage to find the missing heir. Time is running out. With Akito's illness rapidly taking effect, they need to find Yuki fast, or else the Sohma clan will be in an uproar. The problem is, how do they regain the curse? (Small manga spoilers)
1. Confusion

**Hey everyone! Long time no see! My writers block is officially DONE! New stories are in progress my friends! Old stories will be updated! Woo! Make sure you enjoy this next one! ;)**

**Summary: The former zodiac have two choices: Either they leave Yuki for dead, or they somehow try and regain their curse, and use the "bond" to their advantage to find the missing heir. Time is running out. With Akito's illness rapidly taking effect, they need to find Yuki fast, or else the Sohma clan will be in an uproar. The problem is, how do they regain the curse? (kind of a T+ rating)**

**Rating: T+ish, more so in the later chapters.**

**Pairings: Yet to be decided/ revealed -_-**

**Author: kayjaylew**

**Disclaimer: I hope it's obvious by now that I don't own Fruits Basket. Support the real owners, or I'm screwed.**

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**Eye of the Storm**

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A young maid at the Sohma compound paused in her work. She had been cleaning a ridiculously long hallway in the estate, this particular hallway being in the home of one Sohma Akito, head of the Sohma family. Her unusually large ears picked up the distant echo of several fast-paced footsteps.

Elsewhere in the home, Hatori Sohma, the family doctor, could be seen running to Akito's room, and although Akito Sohma was no longer the 'god' that she once was, she still kept her astounding aura of command. Only minutes earlier had he been summoned to her room. The message he had received from her stated that the situation was fairly urgent.

_Hatori and his beloved fiancee, Mayuko, were in the process of discussing their upcoming wedding. The young doctor was watching Mayu with an amused expression, for he had never seen her talk about something that had caused her to be this animated, at least for a while. The pain that he had used to feel whenever he thought of Kana had been replaced with the feelings that one receives when they relive a fond memory. The teacher had been on the topic of which color theme would be best, when an almost surreal wave of despair and regret ran through Hatori's heart. "-because I honestly that it's too dark for a... Hatori? Are you okay?" Oh. His mask slipped._

The doctor narrowed his eyes. As he neared the young leader's doors, he slowed his running, not wanting to agitate the frail woman, or her flickering temper. Hesitantly, he respectfully knocked on the large oak doors. "Come in." came her voice. Opening the door as quietly as possible, he bowed before entering. "Akito, is there something wrong?" "I have a feeling that you can answer this for yourself." Her answer was dry. Hatori nodded stiffly, with a neutral expression. Her black hair, hanging loosely by her shoulders -rather then the usual bun- framed her pail and pallid face. This did nothing to deteriorate her suffocating presence. Her perfect posture and set expression remained strong. After a pause, she bluntly spoke. "I am dying, Hatori." The doctor's eyes flickered. This did not go unnoticed by Akito. She spared him a small glance before continuing. "Maybe in an hour, in a few months, I don't know. All I know is that it is happening faster than before. I had thought that the presence of "God" within me had been the source of my health's deterioration, but now I am forced to accept that the illness is my own." She scowled. "Apparently, the spirit was slowing my death down." Her eyes were bitter. "When this problem arose, so did another." On her next words, she seemed to soften. "I have no current heir."

Hatori's head snapped up. He had not thought too deeply on this matter before. "I revealed this problem to Shigure. We decided to try to have a child, but this didn't work. Whether it is because I am too weak, or because I am naturally barren, again, I don't know, but the situation is the same. Of course, as it stands, that _woman_ will never be allowed to choose the heir she deems worthy for the Sohma clan, tradition or not." Although Akito had spoken of her mother, Ren, her voice remained surprisingly steady and calm. "So arose _my_ decision."

The woman stood up from her place on the floor. She walked unsteadily, but nonetheless graceful, to Hatori's side. "Yuki." was all she said. Words of protest rose to the young doctor's mouth, but the former god silenced him with a look. "I already know what you want to say." "Akito, you can't possibly be serious! Yuki is _far_ too young to-" "Hatori I am aware of this. _Do not interrupt._"He was quiet. Akito merely sighed. "If you remember, I became the head of this clan at six years old, and we all know how that turned out, so I realize that his age is a slight issue. Understand that I have his, as well as the Sohma clan's best interest at heart." Hatori said nothing, bowing his head. "That is why I called _you_ down here, Hatori. I would like you to guide him. Teach him how to act as he should. I don't want the elders near him. They will surely corrupt him." The man looked up at his master. "I doubt that I am qualified to do so, Akito." "You were the one who was constantly near me. It's not like it's just you who will have to teach him. I am placing you as his guardian, in a way. His own parents aren't fit for even _that_ task. Hire tutors, and such. It's not like he isn't smart, so I'm not talking about taking him from Shigure's and his silly school. He's doing fine academically. I'm talking about business tutors and the like." "I-I see. Thank you. When should I start?" Akito smiled. "I want to live the rest of my life with Shigure peacefully, without stress. The elders aren't very happy with my decisions, but they can't do much. Yuki, as soon as I speak with him, with be the head of the Sohma clan effective immediately. You are excused. Please, call Shigure, and have him bring Yuki here." Hatori nodded, and left the large room.

As he closed the door behind him, he heard a small noise of surprise. He turned, and saw a servant run past him. She was fairly tall, and had large ears for a woman. He turned around indifferently, and returned to his office. He set down his bag, and ran his hands through his hair, sighing. _How on earth am I supposed to pull this off?_ He quickly picked up the phone and dialed Shigure's number. I rang for a while, and then played the dial tone. Frowning, he tried again. The same result occurred. He tried a third time. After the dial tone again, he gave up. He picked up his keys, and, cursing his long-time friend the entire way, he made his way down to Shigure's.

It took a good fifteen minutes to get there, but he eventually made it. As he neared the porch, he heard loud shuffling, and banging noises. Somewhat cautious, as though expecting Kyou to fly through the door, he knocked on the door. An out of breath Tohru answered the door. "Ha-Hatori! What are you doing here? Is something wrong?" The tall man merely stared at her. "Tohru, that is what I should be asking you." "Huh? Oh! Uh, yes, no, we're just looking for... um, are you here for Shigure?" "Yes, I am here to bring him and Yuki to the main house." The housekeeper squeaked nervously. "I see! Um, well, ahh..." She trailed off. "I, um, I'll bring you to Shigure now." With that, she went back inside, beckoning him to follow her. "Shigure! Hatori is here, and he's looking for... Yuki..." "Wah! Ha-san! Do you mind if I take a rain check, perhaps? Maybe coming, tomorrow, say?" Hatori gave him a deadpanned expression. "Shigure, what did you do?" "Hatori! What makes you think I did something! You wound me so!" The dog entered the living room. "That's enough. What happened?" Shigure sighed. "Well, Yuki is kind of missing... as of a few hours ago."

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**Okay, this was the trial chapter! Any good? Should I continue? If not, don't read, 'cause I'm gonna do it anyway. Yeah, I realize that some people might consider Akito to be OOC, but I think that she really matured in the end. Yeah, I also prefer Akito to generally be male, but I'm sticking to the manga on this one. I also promise to make chapters much longer, but this was just a trial chapter. Updates will be made every other Saturday, and I'm sticking to that! I swear on my tickets to the 1D concert! (Don't judge me, I think that One Direction is adorably hilarious._.) Make sure to review, or I'll become discouraged. Raise my ego to at least a D+! See you later!**


	2. Insight

**I don't own any aspect of Fruits Basket. The words "fan" and "fiction" speak for themselves.**

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_"Wah! Ha-san! Do you mind if I take a rain check, perhaps? Maybe coming, tomorrow, say?" Hatori gave him a deadpanned expression. "Shigure, what did you do?" "Hatori! What makes you think I did something! You wound me so!" The dog entered the living room. "That's enough. What happened?" Shigure sighed. "Well, Yuki is kind of missing... as of a few hours ago."_

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Hatori said nothing, although his eyes widened. "Explain." Shigure's nervous expression was back. "Well, this morning, Yuki left for school, and he stayed a little after the meeting with the rest of the council, but..." he look helplessly at Tohru, who was crying silently. "...but then I received a phone call from Manabe-" The former dragon gazed at him questioningly. "Ah, Manabe is a good friend of Yuki's he's on the council as well. Anyways, he called us asking where Yuki was. Apparently, he hadn't shown up at the meeting." By this point, Kyo had walked in through the front door, a deep scowl on his face. "He wasn't at his dumb garden either." he grumbled. Although they considered themselves enemies, Hatori mused, he doubted that Kyo would want to be Yuki seriously hurt... at least by someone who could actually do him some damage.

"Ah! Hatori, we also found his bag by the school's back entrance. His phone was smashed to pieces." Tohru burst into a new wave of tears. "H-he's probably been kidnapped!" she hiccuped. "This is all of my f-fault! If I had stayed after with him when he offered, maybe this wou-wouldn't have happened! Ah, he looked so nervous today too, I should have known something was wrong when he asked me, he normally goes out of his way to make sure I'm not inconvenienced or anything, if only I-!" Kyou stopped her, ("Enough already!") and then Hatori focused on her as well. "Tohru, what exactly did he say to you when he asked you to stay?" The housekeeper paused, still hiccuping slightly, and thought back. "I, um, don't remember the exact wording, but it was along the lines of 'I saw you bump into someone, and he didn't help you up. Did he hurt you? Are you alright? I could walk you home after' and so on." Shigure chuckled. "How like Mr. Prince Charming. Who bumped into you? Do you remember who he was?" The girl shook her head. "No. I think Yuki told me that he would find out who he was, because he wasn't a student. Something about how he didn't have a visitor's... pass... NO! What if he was the _kidnapper?! _I feel awful! This really is all of my fault!" "Tohru, can you think of what this man looked like? I'd alert the authorities... but... there are some things that are better left uncovered by others."

Tohru sniffed miserably. Kyou muttered something about water and walked into the kitchen. He came back out and handed a glass of water to his girlfriend, and she chocked out a thanks. Shigure lit a cigarette. "He was wearing dark clothing. His big necklace left a bump on my head, and it really hurt. It doesn't hurt anymore though, so don't worry! Like I said, there was no visitor's pass, and since he was walking in the hallway, Yuki told me it was against the rules, so that's why he followed him." The two oldest shot each other a look. "Maybe he thought that Tohru was the one who was in trouble." Kyo wrinkled his nose. "Pffh, yeah that sounds like him. So annoyingly "noble". Dumb rat, trying to play the hero..." he mumbled grudgingly.

"Not good, Akito won't be happy about this at all." "Obviously Haa-san, he's the former rat of the zodiac, he's going to need to be around to welcome the new heir." Hatori pinched the bridge of his nose. "Shigure, you don't understand. That's the big problem. You see, Yuki _is_ the new heir." After these words, the silence was heavy and thick. "Um, what do you mean Hatori? Yuki is going to be the head of the Sohmas? But, Akito is, uh, well, what about Akito?" More silence. "Akito is dying, Tohru." Shigure said softly, his expression worn. It was clear that he was in pain to know that his lover was on her deathbed. The young girl covered her mouth, her eyebrows scrunched up. She tried to keep herself from once more breaking out into sobs. If she had known this, she would have gone to great lengths to prevent this problem, even if it was pure naivety. Sniffing, she ran upstairs. The men heard her withheld sobs break loose. "I'll... go talk to her. The unusually silent Kyou went to comfort the housekeeper. This left the two friends alone. "Hatori, what now?" The man sighed. "First things first, we should probably let Ayame know. He'll be angry if he isn't a part of this. He might be overenthusiastic about it, but, even so, it's the right thing to do." Shigure chuckled. "Naturally. In fact, it may actually help us a bit. Enthusiasm might be exactly what we need in a situation like this." Hatori smiled softly. "Maybe. Anyways, I'll go-" "SHIGURE! SHIGURE! I HEARD THAT TOORU WAS CRYING! Is she okay?!" There was rapid knocking on the door to go along with these words. Shigure muffled his surprised yell in his long sleeve. "Speaking of enthusiasm..." he grinned. Shigure walked out of the room to greet the visitor at the front door. Hatori walked over to the landline. He already had a vague idea of who was at the door...

"Hello 'Miji. How did you find out so fast?" The blond worriedly twiddled his fingers. "I was going to visit you guys already, and I heard her crying through the window! Is she sick? Is she gonna be okay? Can I see her?! Why is she crying?!" The former dog host nervously laughed. "Momiji, those are a lot of questions. Well, we're in a pretty difficult situation right now, I don't think she's taking it very well. Kyo is actually upstairs trying to help her, but... umm..." "What happened 'Gure?" Shigure looked around outside, and then shuffled the former rabbit inside hastily. "You see Momiji- wait, first swear that you won't tell anyone." Momiji hummed in agreement. Shigure smiled slightly. "'Miji, we think that Yuki may have been taken by someone. Tohru is scared that he might have been hurt." Momiji pondered the information quietly. "...Was this after school?" Shigure nodded. "Are you sure?" Shigure stared at his cousin questioningly. "I think so. Do you know something?" "Yeah. Yuki said he was going to walk home with me and Haru today. He walked home with us for a little bit, but he said he forgot something and ran back. When he didn't show up for a while, we just walked back without him. Haru almost turned black, but he didn't because I told him to call him just to make sure he was okay. He calmed down after that. Yuki answered us. He said he was fine, and he hung up. It was funny, now that I mention it, but I forgot about it. I think that Haru wasn't happy with that though. He wanted to come with me, but his Mom said that he needed to try and clean his room. I left just as he started to turn black. I kind of feel bad, but I didn't really want to be caught up in it. He's been really angry lately. Even with he and Rin back together, something's been bothering him. Oh! Also, today, I-" Shigure held up his hand, to stop the slight rambling. He told Momiji that he should go and chat with Tohru, which he did gladly. He faintly heard Momiji complain on how everything has gotten smaller in the house, due to his big growth spurt, but it only slightly registered in his brain.

They had two stories. What really happened? Where in the world was Yuki?

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His head was pounding. The light that seemed to be shining directly in his eyes wasn't helping, either. He experimentally tried to move his hands and feet, but they seemed to be bound tightly, which was odd. He started to panic slightly. He couldn't defend himself very well if he was bound like this. He tried to open his eyes, only to find that he had been blindfolded. Yuki sighed exasperatedly. If this was his fan club gone psycho, which he wouldn't put past them, he was certainly going to press charges. If it wasn't them, then, well... "Hello?" he called out. His voice echoed slightly. He took a deep breath when he heard heavy footsteps come near him. These also echoed. The certainly didn't sound like they belonged to any girl. The air was musty, wherever they were. He was about to call out again to whoever was coming near him, but he was picked up and slung over someone's shoulder. "Keep quiet, or we'll cut out your tongue." Yuki's heart rate picked up. These definitely wasn't the Prince Yuki fan club. He was in serious trouble. He wracked through his brain, trying to remember what had happened, but all he remembered was leaving Hatsuharu and Momiji to go let the office know of the man without the visitor's pass, but then nothing. It was a blank after that.

It now felt like they were moving up a flight of stairs. He thought back to the man who had spoken to him after picking him up. His voice was low, and steady. It almost reminded him of Haru's monotone, but it seemed more mature. The man couldn't have been older than 23, at the absolute oldest. What on earth had he gotten himself into? He was dropped onto something softer than the chair downstairs. A couch, maybe? "And _there's_ the pretty boy! Welcome!" Yuki could feel his face turn red, with anger or embarrassment, he couldn't tell. Maybe a bit of both. His girly complex was a sore subject for him. The new voice chuckled. Then his blindfold was taken off. He was assaulted with a temporary blinding light, but then he blinked, and his eyes adjusted. He examined his surroundings, and then his captures. They seemed to be in an unfinished warehouse. The site must have been abandoned for a while. Faintly, he heard a ship horn blare in the background. The must be near the coast. Most likely the coast closest to the rest of the Asian continent, as that was closer to his home. The people who had taken him all seemed to be around the ages of twenty to twenty five, not much older than himself. The one who had spoken to him second, was the only exception. He was even younger than the rest, probably eighteen, like himself. Even though he looked the youngest, something about him seemed like he was the leader of the small group of seven. Yuki could tell by the way that they had positioned himself around him. The boy had dark red hair that reached his chin, and a tattoo of some sort of thorny vine that wrapped around his neck. Whenever his hair moved, his ears glinted, so he assumed that he also had piercings. Yuki wrinkled his nose in distaste. He wore clothes that he could picture Haru wearing. In fact, the rest of the group was dressed similarly, he noticed. Maybe they were a part of a gang.

Yuki glared at him, but the boy only smirked back. "Look, I don't know what it is you want, but I don't exactly own anything of value, so if that's the case, you had better let me leave immediately." No reply from the other, only him continuing to smirk at his captive. "Listen you, I don't know what your problem is right now, but so help me, if you don't-" "If I don't what?" His purple eyes widened. The leader was suddenly right by his ear. He had moved impossibly fast. He had barely seen him move, much less come close to him. Yuki swallowed thickly. He gathered up his resolve, and glared at him once again. "What are you trying to achieve with this?" The other sighed dramatically and straightened up. "It's straightforward. If we get 120.8 million yen, then you might be able to go home. If we don't get back the money, we'll send you back piece-" he grabbed Yuki's chin, "-by piece." He smiled. Yuki turned away, his heart hammering. "Why go through all of the trouble?" His captor winked and put a finger to his mouth. "It's a secret." He wasn't going to get anything else out of him.

Yuki looked away. Getting out of this was going to be much harder than anticipated. Although the leader acted like a complete idiot, there was a glint in his eyes that told him that this wasn't entirely the case. "You're not going to get any money." The leader tilted his head. "How do you figure?" Yuki rolled his eyes. "The Sohma family is huge. I'm just another member of one of the outer branches. I doubt the head even knows that I exist." With that, the redhead laughed. In fact, he was laughing so hard that tears started to come out of his eyes. "Wow! You're pretty good! I almost believed you!" He turned around to look at the others. "How come you guys can't be as funny as him? Everyone shuffled their feet and avoided his gaze. He sneered at them and faced the former rat host. "As I said, I might have believed you if it wasn't for this." He held up a picture of the gray haired boy leaving Akito's personal chambers. It was taken recently, because Yuki had bought that shirt about a month ago. "So, what are you to Lady Sohma? Are you Lovers? No...that face you just made tells me otherwise. Well, anyways, this is only one of several others. So, tell me again, are you expendable to the Sohma family?" Silence, and then: "Go to He-" A hand reached into his mouth and caught his tongue, effectively choking him. Yuki's chest rose and fell rapidly, his eyes widening even further. How fast was this guy!?

The smile had left the other male's face. "One more chance, and then you're done. Now, tell me again, _how much are you worth to your family?_"

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**Wow! Is this for real? Am I actually _on time?!_ Woo! I'm even early! What did you guys think? Did you like;)**

**Guess what, I need glasses. For reals. I'm excited, but hesitant. Wish me luck!**

**So, any pairing ideas? For the record, the only established relationships so far are ShigurexAkito & KyoxTohru. I get that these pairings are canon and eh... _straight_, which is unusual for me, but, this is gonna end up as a yaoi story, trust me. If you're offended by this, I'm sorry, but that's how most of my stories are. There's just more to work with in my opinion. Anyways, If you have any pairings you want to see, don't hesitate to let me know! The one with the most votes will be the one that I'm most likely to write, just saying. Heck, it can even be between Yuki and one of his captors, I don't care! However, in case it isn't obvious, the kidnappers are OCs. I don't normally use OCs, because I hate them. I hate Mary Sues and the like. So, in general, I don't write them. I've also got all of the OCs written out, so I know who they're gonna be, don't worry.**


	3. Revelation

**Will you look at that? Again! I updated on time! In fact, if I get more reviews, I might be tempted to update every Saturday, instead of every other Saturday. Enjoy chapter 3!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket. I thought it would've been obvious right now, seeing as I do one every chapter of each and every story of mine. In fact, I'm just going to do one big disclaimer on my profile, so I won't have to do it anymore.**

**This chapter's shoutout: to lovely miss _Tasha Xu!_ You're so nice! I love talking to you, and your story request will certainly be granted in the near future!**

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Hatsuharu was on the verge of turning black. Fifteen minutes before, Momiji had called him up, and told him of the news about Yuki. Clenching his fist, Haru did his best to push his other self back, but Black Haru was putting up one of the biggest fights he has had in a long time. Normally it wasn't this bad, but this case was special. Whereas White Haru had moved on from his crush on Yuki, he didn't think that Black Haru had given up on the one who had first acknowledged him... the endurance run from a few years ago had confirmed that. _**"**__**Idiot! Hurry up and let me out, It'll be quicker if you let someone **__**out **__**who actually **_**cares**_** about 'im! **__**Sheesh,**__** you're **__**so **__**slow!"**_ Hatsuharu grit his teeth. _"Don't make me out like I don't care. I'm impressed you actually had the balls to say that. Obviously I still care about Yuki!" _He furiously shot at his counterpart.

Arriving at the gates of the main house, he pushed the buzzer. "Please state your name and business," a woman said from the speaker. "I'm home from school." The former cow host mumbled. "Ah, Mr. Hatsuharu, welcome. Please try and hurry back from now on, your mother had called in, worried." Haru nodded, even though he knew that she couldn't see him. The gates swung open. It didn't take long, but he found his home after a good five minutes longer. He took off his heavy boots and left them at the front, while he dropped his bag in the entryway.

Quietly, he made his way towards his mother's sitting room. There he found her, clearly drunk and most likely half-conscious on the couch. He smiled sadly and waked over to her. He softly knelt down in front of her, and gently took the whiskey bottle from her hands. With foggy eyes, Miko Sohma looked up at her son. Even kneeling, he was taller than her when she was sitting on the couch. She burst into tears and hugged Hatsuharu tightly. Hiccuping slightly, she slurred, "Haaaru, I'm s- so sorry, I promise that I'll be better tomorrow, I just couldn' help it!" Haru nodded and kissed her of the forehead. He stroked her black hair. "I know Mom. I know you'll do great." He picked her up, and walked her to her room. Laying her down on the bed, and pulled up the covers go her chin. She was already fast asleep. He frowned, and left the room.

He walked up the stairs to his own room. He opened the door. He surveyed the mess. He walked over to the dresser, and pulled out his camera from the sock drawer. Turning it on and flicking through the photos, he smiled when he landed on the picture of Yuki's red face as he was leaving Haru's room. He scrolled to the next one, and there was Haru with his peace sign, and Yuki's bewildered face right next to it.

_"'Peace'. You too, Yuki. 'Peace'!" "What are you doing?" Haru looked at the rat host. "I'm commemorating the day that Yuki visited the main house after so long, and for my sake, no less." The silver-haired boy rolled his eyes. "So, Haru, are you okay?"_

Haru's smile dimmed just a bit as he recalled that particular memory. It was probably a good memory, he figured, but at the same time, he felt a bit sad. His longtime friend had taken the initiative to visit him when he was upset, which he was surprised and happy about, but at the same time, he had failed to realize exactly just what was going on inside of Yuki's head, which is a quality he usually prided himself on.

_"Why don't you call Tohru by her name instead?" "I don't know... I'd just feel awkward I guess." Hatsuharu grinned. "Why? Because it's been over two years Since you've met her?" "...Yeah. Sure."_

Haru laid down on his bed. He had been pretty preoccupied that day, but even so, that was bad, even for him. The week after said memory, Kyo and Tohru had gotten together, and Yuki had started a relationship with one of the student council girls. Machi, he believed, was her name. He supposed it didn't matter much anymore, seeing as that relationship had ended after not too long. All of sudden, a knock sounded on his window. It opened, and in came Rin Sohma, the former horse of the zodiac. She looked at him, and gave a small smile. She had certainly softened up, he mused. He also still was getting used to her short hair. Rin swung her scantily-clad legs into the room, and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Hey," she started. Hatsuharu smiled. "How are you doing?" he chuckled. She shrugged. "Better, I suppose. I'm not throwing up quite as much, maybe once or twice every three to four weeks. It isn't blood anymore, either." The boy sighed in relief. Her condition had certainly been worrying him.

After a pause, Rin's face melted into one of concern. "I heard the news about the rat bastard. It's not like I care much for it, but I knew that you'd be especially worried, and it's not like I'm so cold-hearted as to not care about a kidnapping in the family." Haru shrugged and ran his hands through his hair. "Well, I could obviously be better. You know, you two are really similar. You could at least try to like him a bit. He's not bad at all, he's really nice." The dark-haired woman rolled her eyes. "When you try and convince me to be civil to the rat, that'll be my cue to leave." Haru shrugged again and laid back down on his bed. Rin paused and looked back. "One more thing. I don't normally play messenger, but I was coming here anyways. Tamaki was hoping you were available. He's waiting down by the gate." With that, the dark-eyed beauty left back through the window.

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Tamaki tapped his foot impatiently by the gate, waiting for Hatsuharu. He heard heavy footsteps, when the gate opened, and there he stood. He smiled at him, his green eyes crinkling, and his dark red hair sweeping back with the wind. Haru raised a hand in a mock salute, and Tamaki walked forward. He swung his arm around the shoulders of his tall friend. "Hey, so I heard the news. Kind of scary, right? I get your family is huge and all, but you guys are close, right?" The black and white-haired boy raised a questioning eyebrow. "How did you find out?" Tamaki smirked and put a finger to his lips. "Your family is huge, like I said. You aren't the only Sohma I know. Besides, this Yuki guy is pretty popular, both in and out of the family, right? Even the head likes him. That's what you said, remember?" Haru nodded. "Yeah, I guess. I don't know how bad Akito will take the news, or how bad she did take the news. She'll probably do anything to get him back. It's scary when she freaks out, so I have a feeling that she'll call me and a few others up there sometime soon." The redhead paused. "Why you? Does she expect you to be able to sense him or something?" The former cow hesitated. "Something like that." he didn't elaborate. Tamaki smirked.

* * *

Several hours later, the green-eyed male found himself walking towards an old warehouse on the outskirts of the city. It was dark out, so he had brought out a flashlight, as well as a small pistol. Tamaki's eyes were cold. He rapped on the door seven times, with three pauses between. Immediately, the old door opened. Lin, the one who was left in charge during his absence, was the one who had opened it. "Good to have you back," he muttered. "the Sohma was causing a bit of trouble, so we roughed him up a bit, sorry." Tamaki sighed, disappointed. "Fine, fine. Is he still upstairs?" Lin shook his head. "No, we moved him down, it echoes more upstairs, and like I said, he was making a fuss." "What kind of mess?" "...He knocked out Dai and Eiji in one blow, and he got me on the nose before Xing knocked him down and secured him." Tamaki chuckled. Impressive. He didn't worry too much, from what Hatsuharu had told him, Yuki was a great fighter, but he doubted anyone in the country could ever hope to lay a scratch on Xing, a Chinese ninja in his own right. "Alright, let me see him." Lin nodded, and led him inside to the captive Sohma.

The leader of the group found himself in the center of the large warehouse, and what he saw made him chuckle a bit more. There were Dai and Eiji, both holding an ice pack to their heads, while Eiji was sporting a black eye. They were both glaring at the amethyst eyed boy, who in turn was glaring at Xing, his long black hair pulled into a ponytail, while his hands were holding Yuki's arms in a painful hold behind his back. Tamaki wanted to have a bit of fun with this. "Yuki dear, did you miss me? You must have, to have caused some of my best fighters to hide with their tails behind their legs. It's a good thing that Xing restrained you, or I don't know how bad your heartache might've gotten! I'm glad I came back considerably quick, because I missed you too! Oh, you'll never guess what I found out!"

With this, he stepped forward, and continued to walk forward until he was right in front of the Sohma. Yuki looked up. "You've been lying to me, you see. You had sworn to me that You had no relation to the head whatsoever, and I was willing to believe you. You stuck to it. However, one of my sources told me something very interesting. Not only would Lady Sohma put all of her resources into finding you, which includes bringing some apparently very special people into the circle, but you are going to be _the next head of the Sohma family_. Now, do you care to make an excuse for yourself?" The silver-haired boy looked up, confused. "What do you mean, the next heir? I wasn't informed of any nonsense about me being any sort of heir." Once again, Tamaki put his finger in front of his lips. "Oops, looks like you didn't know. Sorry to spoil the surprise. Now, you wouldn't happen to know who these special people who I mentioned are, do you?" Yuki paused, and then shook his head. "I have no idea, and even if I did, it wouldn't matter to you anyways." Tamaki grabbed the front of Yuki's shirt, and lifted him up. "Listen to me, Sohma. I don't care about what you think wouldn't matter, because as of right now, you have no say in anything that goes on here, understand? Tell me who these people are, and how much they know." subconsciously, Yuki put on his Prince Yuki demeanor, and sneered. "Go to hell." He spit in Tamaki's face.

* * *

In the Sohma estate, one could hear Akito retching, and the faint smell of blood. They were running out of time.

* * *

**Well? What do you think? Let me know in a review! I was dissappointed in the amount of reviews of the last two chapters. In chapter two, I only got one, maybe two. Please review! I get frustrated without my ego pocky!**


	4. Demand

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket, so don't sue me.**

* * *

Tamaki sighed and looked at the unconscious male in the corner. He didn't want to have had to do that. He honestly thought that he would have been able to actually be friends with the Sohma under different circumstances. He turned back to his phone.

_..._

_Has the brat started talking yet?_

...

The tall boy rolled his eyes. Yeah, right.

...

_**It's not like we don't already have everything we need to know anyways, boss. **_

_**He's a stubborn guy. I doubt he'll have much to say anytime soon.**_

_..._

_There's a lot more to the Sohma's than you think._

…

Tamaki stubbornly snapped his phone shut. He didn't need some washed up oldie telling him what to do. He could handle this fine by himself. He looked to Xing, who was already looking at him. The response was taking to long, there was hardly any more activity than usual in the Sohma estate, which meant that they'd have to create a little excitement. This time, they'll send in the ransom note. Unfortunately, for the Sohmas at least, they were going to ask for a bit more than originally intended. 65 million yen would do. Tamaki smirked. He hated families like these: Rolling in dough, practically in control of entire provinces, and even worse, driving their kids to the point of insanity with all of the pressure. He glanced at Yuki again, he couldn't help himself. 'Sheesh, I mean, this guy can't be older than eighteen, and they're expecting him to be the head? More like the poster boy of the family while he's being pushed around behind the scenes. Awful, really."

A moment later, a groan came from the doe-eyes young man, as he stirred back to consciousness. Striding over with purpose in each step, he crouched down, and grabbed a handful of the silver locks. He pulled up the Sohma boy's face to his eye-level, and surveyed the damage done. Hmm. Good, but if they wanted to amp the alley, they'd need to do better. "Eiri," he called behind him. "Yeah Tamaki?" "How much do you want to have a swing at this kid?"

* * *

_Brrring! Brrrring!_ "WAAH! I'M SO SOR – !" _Thwack!_ "Ritsu, it's just the phone, it's okay, so next time, _please don't wake me up at four in the morning."_ "Aah, okay." Kagura rolled over on her side of the bed, and Ritsu answered the phone. "H-hello? Aah, who is this? Are you the..." Ritsu covered his mouth, and poked Kagura's side, silently begging her to listen. She angrily rolled back over, but her annoyance melted away when she say the frantic look on her boyfriend's face. She looked at him questioningly. He quickly pushed the speaker button. _" - expect you there at exactly noon. Bring the head of you family if you want to see you precious relative alive. She might find what she sees interesting. Remember, noon at the pier."_ The voice mail cut off. Ritsu frantically whispered, "They want the twelve of us, including Lady Akito to pick up a ransom note at the pier at noon, or else, Yuki will be hurt really bad! What should we do?!" Kagura, still in slight shock, picked up the phone from where it had fallen out of Ritsu's hands onto the bed.

Making up her mind, she called Hatori. "Hatori?" she said urgently when he picked up. _"Almost, it's five thirty in the morning Kagura. Unless it's an emergency, I hardly want to know the reason why –"_ "Hatori, it's about Yuki." _"What did you find out?" _Hatori asked, serious now. "Someone left a voice mail telling the twelve of us and Akito to go to the pier at noon, they've left some sort of ransom note, and something to show us what's happening to Yun-chan." _"Thank you Kagura. I'm not sure how to break this to Akito, but I'll leave it to you to call Kisa, Hiro, and Shigure's place, alright? I'm sure that Kyou and Tohru will want to be there as well." _"Right, I - " _"One more thing Kagura: Did they say anything specifically regarding the zodiac?"_ Kagura paused. That's right, she hadn't though about how they knew to call us specifically. "No, Ritsu-chi just said that he asked "the twelve of us" to go over, he must have been assuming that we would know what we meant." Another long pause. _"Thank you again Kagura. In fact, instead of calling Shigure's place, you handle Momiji and Rin instead. I'll handle Shigure, Kureno, Ayame, and the others."_ "Okay Hatori. I'll see you later.

* * *

Seven hours later, The former zodiac was walking down the length of the pier. The atosphere, even out in the open air such as this, was tense. Akito was being pushed in a wheelchair by Shigure, being unable to walk properly by herself. Momiji was the first to spot the clue. The payphone near the edge was ringing. Tentatively, he waved Akito over to the incessantly ringing phone.

_"__Hello? Is this Lady Sohma?"_

"Yes. What do you want? Where is Yuki?"

_"That all depends on what you say, and what you do."_

"..."

_"Now, listen closely. Taped to the side of the phone booth, are instructions on the location of the dropoff. We demand that in ransom for Yuki Sohma, we expect the amount stated in the envelope in return. There will also be a picture confirming that the Sohma is alive, at least, he is for now. You'd better hurry, or we'll send his body back one piece at a time. Goodbye Lady Sohma."_

"Wait! Will Yuki be at the dropoff? I refuse to pay the money unless we get him first."

_ "__I hardly think that you're in any position to be making demands. Goodbye Lady Sohma."_

* * *

**I'm sorry it's so short! I just wanted to get this posted because I missed my deadline! Remember, updates every week from now on! Please review, I have hardly gotten any, and I'm loosing motivation TT_TT!**


	5. The Steeper Consequence

**I am so sorry! I missed last week's update, so here is another chapter, and I plan as posting another chapter later today to reconcile with you! Please forgive me! Also, at the end of the chapter, I've finally given a reason for the T rating, so it's just a warning. Here's chapter 5 for you!**

**Disclaimer is on my profile. Also, check out my website! The link is on my profile. I'm serious! After you read the chapter, visit the site!**

* * *

Tamaki was walking down the sidewalk.. Why did he do that? Maybe he though that if he did, those strange urges would leave him alone... he couldn't stop thinking about him. Yuki. The doomed Sohma heir. The unintentional victim. Well, there was no use in complaining anymore. He had already revealed more of himself than he had originally planned. All he had wanted to do was cause Yuki to pity him, but instead, Yuki had claimed that he _understood_. Why did that have to happen? Was some strange entity cursing him, causing him to contradict his own feelings? His boss had ordered him to take a different approach towards Yuki, but this was certainly unexpected. He was sure that Yuki was a bit freaked out by his sudden change of personality.

_ Three hours before:_

_ "When I was around eight years old, my dad left my mom and I to fend for ourselves. He was a wealthy businessman, and Mom was the mistress that he had left his wife for.__In other words, I had to grow up pretty fast in order to pick up the slack that the man had dropped. That's one of the reasons why I'm doing this job; I'll be able to pay the bills easier once we get this job done. Now you know that this isn't personal." Throughout this exchange, the Sohma boy had been silent. "I understand. However, that doesn't change the fact that the approach you took to accomplish your goal isn't right." __Tamaki sighed. "__I always thought the process was more important than the result, but now I understand, nothing matters except the result.*" Yuki scowled. "Why are you telling me this?" Tamaki shrugged. "I don't really know. All I know right now is that I pity you, and your position. Not just currently, but that fact that you were born into that disgusting family."_

* * *

Tohru was absentmindedly washing the dishes. Without looking, she picked up a knife and carelessly began drying it. "Careful with that thing." called a voice from the entryway. The brunette shrieked, and the knife slipped. She began to bleed. "Oh... I'll need a bandage..." Kyou ran up to her, and picked up her hand. "Cumsy, I told you to be careful! Here..." with that he quickly walked up to the medicine cabinet and pulled out a small roll of bandages. "It isn't smart to be inattentive when cleaning cutlery, just as a general rule." Tohru sniffed, her eyes tearing up. The redhead whipped his head up to look at her, and his expression turned remorseful. "Hey, I didn't mean to make you cry, are you okay?" The housekeeper frantically shook her head, her now shoulder-length hair flying around her head. "No, it wasn't that at all, you didn't do anything wrong Kyou, I'm just so worried. I mean, with that strange demand is all, and we don't know if Yuki will be okay or not!" Kyou straightened up, and shifted his weight, uncomfortable.

"Hey, this is that dumb rat we're talking about. He'll be fine." Tohru grimaced, or at least gave an expression close to one, seeing as Tohru can't be frustrated for the life of her. "The thing is, Yuki has been depressed lately, and we still don't know why." Kyou sighed and sat down. "Look, I know what's been going on with him, I think. I though you might have guessed, but I guess not. Well, in fact, it was probably only me who noticed. I've always been able to see through him pretty easily. That might have been why I got pissed off at him so easily back then, because he was always so good to people. It's a dumb reason, I know." Tohru was wide-eyed. "Oh Kyou! That makes me so happy! I can't believe that all of this time you truly appreciated him! If only I had known this sooner!" The red-eyed boy looked away, once again uncomfortable. "Yeah, well, that didn't stop me from trying to beat him up every day." "Oh, right... hehe..." "Yeah, well anyways, I'm pretty sure that, despite everything, he had always relied on the curse, in order to put some of the blame for his mistakes on. Now that the curse is gone, he has no one to blame but himself."

Tohru looked down. "He must have been more upset than I thought." Kyou shrugged. "Who knows. I'm going to go on a walk. I know I just got back, but, I think I need to clear my head again." The small girl nodded, once again absentminded.

It took a while, but, finally, Kyou arrived at their old school, Kaibara High. It was after five, so the school was empty. He came inside, and walking down the halls, he arrived at his old homeroom. He smiled; he could almost see Mayu brandishing hair-dye at him, the Yankee laughing, Tohru freaking out, and Yuki rubbing his forehead, most likely because of a migrane. However, at the thought of Yuki, he once again frowned. With Tohru, he had admitted to things that he wasn't even sure about. He moved on. The gym, where Yuki always had a chance to beat him up, the track, where Yuki was always faster than him, despite his weak constitution, the science lab, where Yuki somehow always managed to blow something up in his face, the other classrooms, where Yuki was always beating him at tests... um, anyways, it was a good reminiscence. Finally, at the end of the hall, was the student council room. He had only been inside once or twice, with messages and such, not that he ever delivered them himself. (He usually asked some dumb girl to do it for him.) He couldn't help it: he walked in the room. To his surprise, there was already someone there. A dark-haired boy, who was about the same height as Kyou, which was something. He knew this kid, he was one of Yuki's friends. Kakeru-something-or-other. The kid was holding up a picture, his expression sad. He hadn't noticed him, so he backed out slowly, not wanting to disturb. The door clicked behind him as he continued through the school. He wasn't in the mood for confrontations.

* * *

Kisa was walking with Haru down the street. Haru had been upset ever since the ransom demand, so Kisa took it upon herself to accompany him for some fresh air. It seemed to e working a bit. If not, Hatsuharu was hiding it very well. Not far up ahead, she could see a somewhat familiar dark red-haired boy waking down the same sidewalk. His name didn't come to her, but she had seen him and Haru talking several times. The former tiger nudged her tall cousin's side, and he looked down at her. She pointed down towards the boy. "Ah, Tamaki," he called. So Tamaki was his name. He looked up, panic all over his face. The expression relaxed when he recognized the tall zodiac boy. He camly waved the two over.

Haru gently took Kisa's hand and walked towards his friend. "Tamaki, what are you doing here?" The other boy shrugged. "I just felt like a walk, It was getting stuffy inside my place." The brown-eyed boy nodded. "I would imagine. Did your Dad visit or something? You look tense." With those words, Tamaki seemed to become, if possible, even more stiff. "No, it was just stuffy." An awkward silence emerged. It was then broken by Haru once again. "I see. You look sick, you're paler than usual. Have you been taking care of yourself properly? Is there something going on?" The other boy quickly shook his head. "Nope, not at all. Why? Did someone tell you something?" This was all said very fast. "...No. Are you sure that you're all right?" "I've never been better. I should go, it was nice seeing you."

* * *

_They must know something! They have to know something. That was practically an interrogation! Why else would they ask all of those questions? I wonder if... what if they know where I'm keeping him?! That's it, we need to move locations. Too many suspicious things have been happened lately. I won't let _anyone_ lay their hands on that Sohma while I'm in charge of him. ...uh, I mean, that would be bad for my reputation, of course._

Tamaki nearly ran to the warehouse. The doors banged open, and immediately, about twenty guns were on him. They were lowered, however, when they saw who had barged in. "Geez, a little warning next time, boss. We nearly pumped you full of lead." "Shut up. We've been discovered. We need to move. Where's the Sohma?" Eiri looked alarmed. "We've been discovered? Seriously? The kid's upstairs, but he's – !" Tamaki stomped upstairs. What he found was Xing sitting on the bed, with no Yuki in sight. "Where'd the kid, Xing? We need to move." The chinese assasine moved him head towards the bathroom door. Without a thought, the redhead walked in. The door was unlocked. What he saw made his eyes bulge. There was Yuki wrapping a towel around himself, having just gotten out of the shower. Yuki's face turned bright red. "What the heck?! I left the door unlocked, like that man said. Why is your face all red? Did you run up here or something? What's the rush?" Crap. So his thoughts showed on his face. He masked his expression and replaced it with a cold scowl. "We need to leave." "Leave? Why?" "No time for questions. Get dressed." He grabbed Yuki roughly by the wrist, and threw him out into the room. He pointed towards the door, looking at Xing. Nodding, Xing left. Yuki flushed an even brighter red. "Well if you expect me to get dressed, you're going to have to leave the room." "I refuse. Hurry up. We don't have much time." "Look, I don't know what your problem is, but I don't want to be naked in front of – " Roughly Tamaki whipped the towel off of the shorter boy. "Hey!" Yuki stuggled to cover himself, somewhat unsuccessfully. "Unconsciously", Tamaki admired the nice curves that the boy had. It was especially noticeable, seeing as the boy was still wet and flushed. "Hurry up and get dressed. I don't like to be kept waiting."

* * *

***************I just couldn't resist putting Suzaku's ********famous ********quote in there! It's one of my favorite quotes from Code Geass, ********right alongside******** "Tomatoes and cats don't come in a set." ~ Lelouch Lamperouge/ Vi Britannia.**

******Whew! That was a hard chapter to write, and I'm not very happy with it, but it is necessary. Also, lucky for you, don't plan on updates every other week, but every Saturday! I've got the entire storyline all written out, so it'll be easier to write them. Please review! My stories are greatly effected by my mood, and when I don't get reviews, I get discouraged. If you want a new chapter, I expect six reviews, at the very least! REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!**

******Also, if you're a Hetalia fan, please read my AmeriPan story, "Massachusetts-chu!"**


	6. To Walk Again

**As promised, here is the second chapter of the day! (Well, night...)**

**Disclaimer is on my profile.**

* * *

Ayame was biting his nails; a bad habit that his dear Hatori had always chastised him for. No matter how hard he tried, it was a hard-to-break habit... which Hatori should be able to understand, seeing as the doctor, ironically, had tried to quit over thirteen times. Currently, the three oldest former zodiac, and Akito, were all gathered in the Sohma conference room. For once, Yuki's older brother hadn't donned any flamboyant robes, instead wearing a tan turtleneck sweater and white jeans, with his long silver hair in a ponytail at the back of his head. Needless to say, his two closest friends had been shocked at the change, and that had been putting it mildly. It was odd, because it wasn't as though this was the first time of his wearing normal clothes. In fact, he wore jeans quite often when he went out in his free time. Odd as it may be to some, Ayame wasn't a total *shrinker. As a true trend-setter, he wasn't afraid to wear anything out of the ordinary, is all. Interrupting his train of though, Akito succumbed to a slight coughing fit. Immediately Shigure was at his lover's side, his face etched with concern. In fact, Aya noted with a frown, there seemed to be frown lines developing on his childish friend's face that weren't there before. This greatly saddened the former snake.

The four were here to discuss how to find Yuki, but so far they had come up with nothing closer than maybe there was hope that somehow they would be able to "sense" the former zodiac using the bond that had previously been broken, but even then, it still seemed hopeless. The current head of house suddenly hunched over, and a terrible gagging sound was made. The woman stood up. On her face, there was blood. They all stood up, and rushed her out of the room. It was drawing to a close.

* * *

Momiji was being uncharacteristically gloomy, Kagura had been noticing. She smiled at the young half-german, who was by now taller than her, and offered him a sweet from her bag. He shook his head and frowned. This worried the small woman. Usually, the prospect of a sweet of any sort would immediately cheer the boy up. This must be pretty serious. "Hey, 'Miji, wanna talk about something?" she questioned. The blond shrugged. "Not really, 'm just thinking. It's not really that important right now." Uh oh. The brunette thought she knew where this was going. "Hey, it's okay. Tohru isn't the only nice girl in the world. I mean, look at Ritsu and I! I had thought for _fourteen years_ that Kyou was the only one for me, when it turns out, all I had to do was look in my own backyard. Hey, maybe all you need to do is the same. So... is there anyone cute at your school who you might be interested in?" Momiji rolled his eyes, but smiled. "Not really. There are a lot of cute girls who like me, but it's pretty superficial. Besides, I've still got Yuki's legacy to catch up to before people start ti get serious about me, ya know? Thank you for the talk 'Gura, but I need to grab Haru and go to school."

* * *

Haru and Momiji had walked in a comfortable silence towards the school. Well, it was comfortable until they actually got to the school, and then they parted ways. The both awkwardly nodded at each other, and then left their separate ways. This left Hatsuharu plenty of time to think, at least, it should have. "– he was so wonderful! I remember it like it was yesterday, he was walking down the hall, and his gorgeous violet eyes seemed to – " This stopped Haru in his tracks. There were two second year girls talking to a few first years, and it was painfully clear that they were talking about "Prince" Yuki. He hated them for this. He was just about sick of all this talk around the main house on how "Strong, brave Yuki Sohma" probably wasn't going to ever return home, and how "unfortunate" it was. They didn't understand. They didn't know _anything_ about Yuki. He was sensitive to everything around him, and he was genuinely kind, from the bottom of his heart, no matter how awful someone was. Okay, well, Kyou was the only exception, but he had always been a special case with Yuki.

He couldn't control it; something inside of Haru just _snapped_, and he walked up to the six girls, punching the locker in front of them. He sadistically enjoyed the shock on their faces. He had turned Black, this much was obvious. He imposed as much self restraint on himself as he could, and he walked away, leaving them with only the bird*. He stalked down the hall towards the men's locker room. He didn't care that there was class going on, all he cared about was letting off some steam, and boy, was there a lot to let go He was angry, no furious. In fact, he was beyond furious. He was _enraged_. How dare they talk about his Yuki like they knew him personally?! _Hey, calm down, they didn't know, how could they know? Yuki was a hard person to have open up to you, it isn't their fault._

**Oh, and I assume he has opened up to us, then? Where were we, no where were _you_ when he was depressed for nine months after the curse, after the breakup with that freak girl? Oh, right, making googly eyes with that _slut_.**

_That's enough. Don't talk about Rin like that. She's perfect to me, and she isn't a slut._

**Yeah, perfect to you. Shut up, moron.**

* * *

Yuki was too scared to even flinch when his captor's eyes roamed over him. This wasn't the same Tamaki as before. What was going on? First, when he had arrived, he had possessed a cocky attitude, and then this morning he was sincere about his words. Now, he was almost scary. What was going on? "I-I'm not going to change until you leave the room. Please leave." The redhead's eyes darkened considerably. "Just get some clothes on, or do you just enjoy flaunting you body?" The smaller male's eyes widened. He stepped forward, and full on slapped Tamaki across the face. Tamaki didn't even flinch. He merely turned around, and waited. Satisfied for the moment, The silver-haired boy quickly reached for the clothes that were set out, a too-large t-shirt, most likely one of the others', and a pair of blue jeans that fit him fine. Once he was dressed, he cautiously faced Tamaki once again, and cleared his throat, to signal that he was done.

Without another moment's passing, Tamaki swept out the Sohma's feet our from under him, and put his foot on the knee of Yuki's bent leg. He stomped as hard as he could, and there was a sickening crack harmonized with an ear-splitting scream. This was followed by another, identical crack. Tamaki left the room, with Yuki helplessly passed out on the floor. He snapped his fingers, and immediately Xing calmly walked into the room, and picked up the unconscious boy, whose legs were hanging at an unnatural angle. Tamaki smirked sadistically. "That should solve the problem of him trying to run away. That was surprisingly simple, I'm surprised I hadn't thought of that before. The look on his face was almost... adorable."

* * *

***I'm sure you can guess what that means... if not, he pretty much just flipped them off.**

**Scary! Yuki, that was bravely stupid of you. Stay modest! I'm a bit happier with this chapter, even though it is shorter. Well, a chapter's a chapter, right? REVIEW PLEASE! I haven't gotten any reviews on the last chapter so far, and it saddens me TT_TT!**


	7. Desperation Time

**Hey Readers,**

**this is actually pretty important. In case you guys weren't aware, I haven't had a review since three chapters ago, so I have no idea if anyone is even following this story anymore... -.-', so, I've decided to postpone the next update until I get at least 5 reviews for the last chapter, or any chapter, really. This way, my ego will inflate, and I'll be inspired for more creative chapters! I actually have the entire plot all written down, so this isn't a writer's block at all, I just want to make sure that I'm not wasting my time finishing this story when I could be starting on the new stories that I have planned out. If it turns out that people will start to review this story, I will gladly continue! If this is any encouragement, I've also got a sequel planned for this story, and this story's ending will be pretty unexpected! I've also decided that before I make a new update each Saturday, I expect at least three reviews before continuing. Oh man I sound so snooty right now... I've just been feeling discouraged. -.-... On a side note, I'VE BECOME BEST FRIENDS WITH A JAPANESE EXCHANGE STUDENT! Her name is Amie and she's adorable! She's taller than me though... I'm only 5'1" at my age... and my doctor said that I'm supposed to be done growing, right after he tells me that I need glasses! How depressing, seriously... anyways, Amie doesn't understand what you do on Halloween, so I'm so excited for October! **

**Well, until next week!**


	8. Lowest of the Low: Part 1

**Here it is! Again, I am sorry I missed yesterday's update. Well, better late than never! Here you go!**

**Don't own, don't sue.**

* * *

Akito's vision was dimming. It was time. The strong woman had hoped that she would hold out for another week or so, but it just wasn't going to happen. She had accepted it. She sighed deeply, and gazed tenderly at the sleeping man by her bedside. She was aware that he had been by her side the entire time. Shigure. If only her stubbornness hadn't held, if only she had understood sooner, maybe they wouldn't be here now. They always did say that laughter was healthy for you. Then again, so was crying. Perhaps it was the unbalance of the two that emotions had caused her to become so frail, so sick. Dying. She had experienced several tears, but the genuine laughter in her short twenty-two years of life was scarce. It all went down to the curse, as did everything in the Sohma family. It was ironic: the very thing that she had depended on to live, both literally and figuratively, was the exact thing that had brought everyone else down, and had presented this great burden on to everyone who she had even remotely cared about. It even affected the people who she couldn't care less about, the ones who she hadn't even met, but whose lives she had indirectly ruined.

Well, in some cases, only temporarily. Tohru Honda. At first, an annoyance. A great annoyance who gradually escalated into an enemy. A menace. Finally, a trusted friend. It was funny how things worked out. Her entire life seemed to be based upon irony. Akito Sohma, the one who was forced to live as a man, and strove to rebel against those who made it so, yet the one who hated women in general. Akito Sohma, the god of the family, the torment upon it's members. The tormentor of her first friend, her first equal. The essential killer of Yuki Sohma.

Everything was gray.

* * *

"Haru, stop." "Rin, I'm sorry, I really am, but this is the one request of yours that I won't be able to see through." "Hatsuharu Sohma, look at you! You're going to end up killing yourself at this rate!" The former seventh zodiac glared at the second, her boyfriend. Hatsuharu had fallen asleep at his bedroom desk, piles of untouched homework and broken pencils surrounding him, along with pictures of the rat. Even after all of this, the rat was still his center of attention. There were dark rings underneath Haru's eyes, and his hair was messier than she had ever seen it. It was hard enough trying to get him to take proper care of himself, let alone under these circumstances. "Haru, I know that Yuki was important to you, but he's gone now. I hate to be hypocritical, but I need you to _let it go_. Give up! Somebody else can handle this. I care to much about you to allow you to continue searching for the rat's sorry self."

For the first time, Hatsuharu truly glared at Rin. He couldn't believe that she would say something like this. "Rin, I've told you time and time again; I love you, I really do, but Yuki is special to me. He – " "I know, I know, he 'saved' you. Haru, that still isn't a good enough excuse! Put yourself as your first priority, for once." "That's easier said than done. I'm only happy if the ones I care about are happy. That of course includes you, you're practically at the top of the list, but I can't sit here and laze around if I know that Yuki is out there somewhere hurting!" Rin narrowed her eyes. "Fine. Take your pick." The former ox blinked. "Take my pick?" "It's either the rat, or me. _Take your pick_." "Rin, I can't just –! " "I said, it either the rat or me. It's always been like this, it's always been him over me. Let's see if this will change the one time it really matters." There was silence. "Figures." Rin left the room, her eyes red and moist. "We're done Haru, this time we're really done."

Those words seemed to echo inside of Hatsuharu. _We're done. We're done. We're done. We're done..._

The words became louder and louder, pounding inside of his head. This wasn't happening. First Yuki. Yuki was in pain. Rin. Rin was hurt. Momiji. Depressed. Kisa. Confused. Yuki. Rin. Momiji. Kisa. Yuki. Rin. Momiji. Rin. Yuki. Yuki...

_Poof!_

* * *

Rin gaped at the sight before her. She had returned to the room to demand that he sleep, but before her, was an ox. The curse. Her boyfriend had regained the curse, which she had tried near her entire life to get rid of for him. Ironic that The one person who didn't deserve the curse, was the first to regain it. Rin had, once again, fell into her lowest of the low.

_Poof!_

Next to the ox was a strong, black horse. The only two to regain the curse.

* * *

Akito opened her eyes. She could feel it. The both loved and hated curse. Another sensation. Her precious rat, somewhere by the docks, with a massive pain. The pain seemed... muted somehow. Perhaps her Yuki was unconscious. With the last of her will, she nudged Shigure, her lover, awake. He opened his eyes slowly, but then blinked awake in rapid realization. He sat up quickly. "Is something wrong Akito?!" He grasped her hand, afraid of the response. She weakly chuckled, and shook her head. "I found Yuki. The docks. Hurry with them over, it's fading, quickly... it's..." The world disappeared, and her pale hand fell limp. A small trickle of blood leaked out of the corner of her mouth. It was over.

Shigure stood up slowly, hesitantly. He still held her hand. His head was lowered, and a single tear slowly traced down his cheek. It was followed by another. Yet another set mirrored the first. "I hope you have a nice rest, Akito. I love you."

* * *

Ayame and Hatori raced over to the docks, and into the only large enough building after hearing the news from Shigure. The former dog refused to cone, on account of his mourning. He couldn't bring himself to leave her side until her body was properly prepared for burial. They were greeted with the sight of an empty building, save for a dusty couch, two chairs, and a staircase leading to the second floor. Ayame further tightened his scarf, due to a chill. Hatori's eyes closed momentarily, feeling an impending stress upstairs. The first few coordinated steps of the friends were tense, but gradually loosened up as the pace grew faster. The metal stairs echoed and clanged with every pounding step the pair took. The vibrations echoed throughout the large warehouse. A door just up ahead led them into the only room that had the feeling of being recently used.

The cleanup was sloppy. There was a puddle of water near the bathroom floor, as well as a towel thrown on top of the sheetless bed. Hatori walked towards the desk, which was next to the small bed. This, too, was bare. Something quickly caught his eye. A flash of red, near the floor, or more accurately, inside of the wastebasket. A crumpled up material was inside. The dragon lifted it out. It was a torn shirt, with the buttons ripped off. On the bottom rim of the shirt was a thin smear of blood. This worried Hatori. No words were spoken when Hatori further inspected the shirt. On the inside were the stitched words: "I love Big-brother Ayame". Said person covered his mouth, and attempted to stifle a sob. Ayame fell to his knees, and continued to cry.

* * *

The friends made their way home in complete silence, not that any words had been exchanged in the warehouse. Ayame clutched Yuki's shirt to his chest, his beautiful eyes now red from crying. A Shrill ringing broke the silence. Ayame and Hatori warily eyes the snake's pocket. Finally, Ayame reached down and looked at the number. His pale face uncharacteristically contorted into a sneer. He answered reluctantly. "What do you want now?" He snapped. A pause. "What a rude way to speak to your only living first relatives." The silver-haired man rolled his eyes. "My only living first relative is Yuki, as I certainly don't consider you to be my family. What do you want?" There was another small pause. "I want you to step up. Yuki is dead, so our financial back up is gone as well. I expect you to start catching up in order to please your mother." Ayame hissed. "I stopped considering you as my mother when I was fourteen, and if that's all the emotion that you can muster up towards my dear little brother, even after all of the unconditional love he gave you, which you far from deserved, than that only deepens the disgust that I hold for the woman called Minori Sohma. Don't contact either Yuki or I again, or I will press charges for harassment. As of today, I was take up the responsibility as Yuki's guardian. Good day."

The snake furiously snapped the phone shut. Hatori looked over at his friend. "I honestly wasn't aware that you had that in you." Ayame looked at Hatori with pained eyes. "Neither did I. I should have done that a long time before this." The green eyes man studied his friend with a small smile, before turning to the wheel. "Better now than never. I'm proud of you." Ayame sadly smiled back. "I don't deserve your pride. I'm still the same selfish man I was a year ago, that much, at least, hasn't changed." "That's good. It's something I can depend on."

* * *

**Sorry for the quick scene changes, but I needed to finish this chapter quickly. This chapter is actually split in half, because I wanted to get this up quickly. Thank you to everyone who reviewed! You are my inspiration! Also, the stitching on Yuki's shirt, for those who haven't read the manga, is actually something that Ayame did when he and Yuki had some "alone time". If there's something you're confused on, let me know!**


	9. Lowest of the Low: Part 2

******Hey you guys! This is ********the remade/ updated ********chapter 7 ********part 2! ********... confusing, I know, but I needed to keep my updates on schedule! **

******Disclaimers are all on my profile.**

******Special shoutout to IvyRosieBaby! You made my day ^_^**

******As well as all of the quick reviews from you all, thank you so much!**

* * *

Tamaki stared out of the passenger window. He, the Sohma, Xing, and Eiri were driving down the freeway in a black SUV. Xing was driving, and Eiri was watching the Sohma in the back seat. The redhead narrowed his eyes. He still couldn't remember what had happened during the period of time when he had gone upstairs to retrieve Yuki, and during the first few minutes of driving in the car. He didn't voice his concerns, because he had already figured out what had happened. That didn't mean he liked it any better, however.

His eyes drifted over to the bag by his feet. Inside were his personal belongings, such as his medication. He needed to consult his doctor for new prescriptions. These current ones were rapidly loosing effect. They weren't helping at all. Well, that could wait until after the "project". He didn't like referring to is as a "kidnapping". Honestly, Yuki was older than him, he wasn't exactly what most would call 'kid'.

Xing nudged him in the side, and held out the phone. Tamaki looked at the Chinese man, and then at the phone. He lazily reached out. "Hello?" "Are you almost to the new location?" Tamaki rolled his eyes. So much for polite greetings. "Dunno. I don't have the GPS, Xing does. You should've kept the phone with him. I'm tired, and I want to sleep. Bug me later." There was a pause. "I'll forgive that, because I happen to be in a good mood. I have some new information for you." "What, are you finally going to tell me who you are?" "No, merely that we won't have to go through with the second step. The ransom has been met. Lady Sohma is dead. She died last night, or at least that's what they're telling the family." Tamaki blinked. "Seriously? So we can let Yuki leave now?" "Since when are you on such familiar terms with the Sohma heir?" Tamaki flushed. "Since never. I just got bored of calling him 'Sohma' over and over again. Problem?" There was chuckling on the other end of the phone. "If you say so Tamaki. For your second question, no, we will not let him go. I'll be taking him with me. What happens then is no concern of yours. I had actually called to give you and Xing the new address."

Tamaki's heart seemed to stop. But, Yuki was... he was, he was so... tsk. Numbly he handed the phone back to Xing, so he cold receive the new address. The boy slumped in his seat. It wasn't like he had grown particularly fond of Yuki, but... well, he didn't know. It was more than just mere pity, he knew that much. It was some sort of attachment feeling. He just felt as though the lavender-eyed boy was the first one who he had actually connected to after a long time. Even before they had met, with all the stories that his long-time friend Hatsuharu had told him of the older Sohma, he had developed feelings of respect for him. He didn't exactly act on that respect, obviously, considering their situation, but respect, regardless. When he had first met the eighteen year-old, his expectations had been met. Pretty-faced, soothing voice, strong personality, and somewhat giving off the aura of authority. The personification of grace. The two did nothing more than throw around insulting phrases at one another, but... looking back, the thought made him smile.

In the back, there was a loud thumping noise. Xing didn't move, but Tamaki looked back. It looked as though Yuki had fainted. "Oi! Brat!" Eiri lifted Yuki up, but nothing happened, aside from his head rolling to the side. "Slap him." came Xing's mumble. Eiri looked startled, seeing as the long-haired man wasn't expected to speak, but he did as he was told. The silver-haired boy woke up as soon as skin met skin. A loud red mark had appeared on his left cheek, which was a stark contrast to his ridiculously fair skin. With blank eyes, Yuki spoke. "What happened to Akito?" he blinked, and his eyes cleared up. "Is she okay? Did something happen?" Wide-eyed, Eiri looked to Tamaki, who was as equally wide-eyed. Xing's reply was short and blunt. "She's dead."

Yuki lifted his hands to his mouth. He looked faintly green, as though sick. "Hey hey hey, don't go puking all over me now!" Yuki faintly shook his head. "No," he whispered. "no, no, no no no!" He started to breath rapidly. "Crap, he's having an asthma attack. I had hoped that we wouldn't have to worry about it, like the boss said." The redhead looked to the driver. "Did we pack an inhaler by chance?" The older man merely shook his head. It looked as though his time for talking was over.

Yuki's breathing was gradulally slowing down, but that didn't mean that he was in any less pain. "Tamaki," he started, "please let me go back. I need to be by her side." The other smirked. "What, are you admitting that you and Lady Sohma are close? Too little too late. We have different plans now." Even as Tamaki said his words, his heart clenched. He didn't want Yuki to leave, and from what the boss-man said, the *bishie's next stop wouldn't be very pleasant.

* * *

There was no more argument from Yuki. Thoughts were racing through the former rat's head. _'I broke my promise, the only promise towards Akito I had ever actually intended to keep. I couldn't be by her side during her passing... I can almost feel the traces of the rat spirit, with what the pain of it's seperation from it's 'God'.' _A bright light brought Yuki back from his inner world – it was a glint from something in the front. Xing and Tamaki weren't paying much attention to the road, discussing seriously where they were going. It wasn't from inside of the car. "Look out! There's someone in the middle of the road!" Yuki yelled out. At the abrupt yell, Xing was startled and swerved on reflex. As Yuki held on to his seatbelt in order to avoid falling to the floor, he squinted at the person who had caused their current swerving. Long, black hair, a sneer in place, a bare minimum of clothing covering her legs... Rin. Rin, who was currently holding a gun.

* * *

"Look out! There's someone in the middle of the road!" Yuki screamed from the back. The next thing he knew, his seatbelt was choking him from the sudden swerve of the car. Tamaki caught a glimpse of said person before, suddenly, a bullet went through the windshield, hitting Tamaki's arm. The young boy nearly blacked out from the pain. More bullets rained through the glass, two hitting Xing in the chest. What was happening?! The car crashed in to a tree on the side of the road. Tamaki took this opportunity to escape from the car. He so desperately wanted to take Yuki with him, but he was too much of a coward, for one thing. In any case, he couldn't be seen. He burst out of the car doors, and ran in to the woods that were alongside the road they were on. He remembered thinking '___I hope Yuki didn't get hit,____'_ and seeing the color red before passing out.

* * *

THREE HOURS EARLIER: THE SOHMAS

* * *

Ayame was startled by a shrill ringing coming from his pocket. His cell phone. He promptly removed it and accepted the call. "Ayame speaking." _"Ayame, it's Haru... I know where to go. I know where Yuki is." _The former snake nearly dropped the phone. Yuki, his precious baby brother. Finally, he could be saved! "Haru, how do you know this?" There was a slight silence. _"My ox spirit is back, and so is Rin's, I think. I don't know what happened, but I have this strange... feeling. It's like some sort of invisible string. Can you call Hatori?"_ "I've actually just been trying to call him, but he won't pick up. He and the two little ones are at Yuki's University, in his apartment. He was going to try and talk to his roommate."

* * *

Hiro held Kisa's hand tightly, blushing crazily. He still hadn't asked her out, but the thirteen-year-old was going to do it soon, just watch. Haru teased him often about it, and the adults, excluding his mother, claimed that he wasn't allowed to just yet. Whatever. His mother on the other hand, said she supported him no matter what. She adored Kisa, and was great friends with her mother. Right now, the two were walking behind the Sohma doctor, inside of what he knew was their older cousin Yuki's apartment. Unlike the other zodiac, Hiro and Yuki were direct cousins. Hiro's mother was Yuki's Dad's younger sister. He didn't know his uncle's name, and he wasn't around the man often enough to really care.

After a few more minutes, they arrived at room number 1706. Hatori rang the bell, and they heard cautious footsteps from the inside. With a small squeak, the cheap door opened. In their view was a very tall man, white hair and indigo eyes, with a clean white button-up shirt, designer jeans, and blazer. Overall, stereotypical classy college man. The man smiled. "Are you by any chance looking for Yuki? It's unfortunate, but he's not here right now." There was a strange flicker in the man's eyes, along with... something else. Hatori nodded. "I had figured. We aren't the police by any means, but we would like to ask you a few questions concerning Yuki. I'm his older cousin, along with these two." He gestured to them. The white haired man blinked for a moment, and then he frowned, guarded, suspicious. "I see. My name is Aoubi Nakayama, Yuki's designated roommate. Please, come in. I have a few questions for you as well."

* * *

___PREVIEW FOR ____CHAPTER 8_

___There were pictures of Yuki completely decorating the walls, filling the overflowing scrapbooks that were piling on top of the desk, there was even a few of what looked like Yuki's clothes near the bed. Now they knew why the room had been locked. ____This was his dirty little secret, all right._

* * *

***************short for 'bishounen', which literally translates into 'pretty-looking boy'. Ex: Yuki, Momiji, Kiku Honda/ Japan, Hitachiin Twins, ********Shogo Makashima, ********etc... pretty much any smexy ukes out there... ********minus Makashima. He's no uke. He's just sexy and psychotic. "I am not a psychopath, merely a highly-functioning sociopath". I love you if you get that reference!**

******(A/N) Firstoff, I kind of picture Aoubu as a mix of Soubi Agatsuma from Loveless and Shogo Makashima from Psychopass. Prettty much a pervert Makishima with glasses. *********dies of Niagra Falls nosebleed***

******What do you think? Yay? Nay? Huh. Anyways, I have a small contest for you guys. ********I'm not going to come out and say that I can't draw worth crap, because I'm not, but I'm not confident enough in my pictures in order to actually post them on here, so ********I want you guys to draw me a pic of something from my stories, scan it, and then send it to me via email! Winning picture will be the story's picture! Bonus points for drawing my OC's! ********Pretty please with a cherry on top?!**

******I would also like to announce that I am in dire need of a beta-editor. I'm sure you guys have noticed, but I am becoming more and more prone to typos. I need glasses. I really do! On the same visit, my doctor (who's name is ironically Doctor Payne,) told me, and I quote: "Kaylei, at 5'1", you are short for girls your age. Unfortunately, that is all you'll ever be, because you're done growing. Also, here is a list of good eye doctors, because you badly need glasses." ...Thanks you. Jerk. **

******Please review review review! I demand at least 6!**


	10. At Arm's Length

**Disclaimer is on my profile. Enjoy!**

* * *

Aoubi was looking at Hatori carefully, subtlety, trying not to draw very much attention to the fact that he was angry that the man was intruding in his apartment. Kisa and Hiro were standing off to the side, looking uncomfortably at the two men, who seemed to be not only equal in terms of height, but in authority as well. "Well, fire away. What questions do you have for me? The quicker you ask, the quicker you'll be able to leave." The white-haired man's words were quick, sharp. Hiro rolled his eyes. "Sheesh, how unsociable of you. Honestly, I hate people who demanding their guests to leave, right after declaring that they have questions for them! That seems counterproductive, don't you think? Probably not, considering your actions. Make up your mind already, I can't stand people who don't even know what they want." "Hiro, that's enough. I understand that you're bored, but please wait a bit longer." Hatori turned back to Yuki's roommate, who seemed unruffled about the young boy's words, even if his eyes were slightly narrowed.

Hiro flushed, with a single sentence, the ex-dragon had made him look like a fool in front of Kisa, the jerk...

Hiro glared at he two men, and stormed into the hallway, pulling Kisa along. There were four doors in the hallway, two of which, Hiro guessed, were bedrooms, and a bathroom. Hiro opened the first door. He didn't need to look around very much to know that this was Yuki's and Span, dull colors, a minimal amount of personal belongings and furniture, not to mention the graduation picture of Tohru and Kyou next to the slightly shorter boy. Haru was slung across Yuki's back, doing a peace sign. Hm. "Hiro, I don't think this we should be looking around in someone's room without permission." "Hn. This place was boring anyways." Slightly disregarding her words, he went to the next door. Another bedroom, probably Aoubi's, unless there was a third roommate, which he doubted; this apartment was too small for three people. He closed the door. There was probably an office somewhere around here as well. He turned around, and spotted what he had guessed for. Yep, he could see another door at the end of the hall. definitely an office. However, there was another door in the back. This got Hiro curious, since he couldn't think of any other need for rooms. He tiptoed towards it, feeling slightly apprehensive. Kisa looked back towards the sitting room, where Hatori and the other man were talking. She really didn't want to get either herself or Hiro in trouble, but she was afraid to tell Hiro to go back once again.

Hiro reached his destination, and jiggled the handle. Locked. Now he was really curious. He stepped back, hoping to see a key on the top of the door frame. Bingo. This meant that it was Aoubi who had locked this room, as Yuki was too small to reach the key easily. Luckily, if Hiro held Kisa up, they would be able to carry out what the former rat would not be able to do. He looked at Kisa and flushed. He mumbled his request to her. This triggered a blush from Kisa as well. She, however hesitantly, nodded. He quickly, avoiding looking up too carefully... not that he was a pervert or anything, like Ayame, Haru or Shigure, or course... Hmph. "Ah, Hiro, here it is." He gently took her off of his shoulders, still flushing. He took the key that she held out for him, and tested the lock. Perfect.

He quickly opened the door, and upon his first glance, covered Kisa's eyes. His own were wide with shock. There were pictures of Yuki completely decorating the walls, filling the overflowing scrapbooks that were piling on top of the desk, there was even a few of what looked like Yuki's clothes near the bed. Now they knew why the room had been locked. This was his dirty little secret, all right. Who would've figured that Aoubi would stalk his own roommate? It seemed fitting somehow. It was sad, really, how Yuki attracted all the weirdos. Akito, Haru, and even Kyou, even though the latter was in an entirely different way, well, for all he knew, and not to mention that from what he heard, his entire school was one giant Yuki fan club. Now this guy, although, this guy took the cream of the crop. There were some very, interesting, pictures everywhere. Also were some strange little 'items' here and there in the room.

There were footsteps coming from the hallway. Hiro, still covering Kisa's eyes, whipped around just in time to see Aoubi and Hatori step into the doorway. The doctor's eyes became wide as he took a step away from the college student. Said student merely sighed. I really wish that you two hadn't been snooping around. Now I'm going to have to force you to leave, which is such a pain." As his glasses glinted, he withdrew a switchblade from his left sleeve, and pointed it at Kisa.

* * *

**I apologize for such a short chapter, and for only one scene view, but I've been babysitting all day, and only have so much internet to use on such short notice... huh. Anyways, I haven't gotten any pictures sent to me, and I really want to see what you guys come up with! You don't even have to be able to draw all that well, I just want to see how you picture my story and characters! It's very fun for an author! ^_^**

**Anyways, I'm still looking for a beta. I need one. Badly.**

**REVIEW! No more updates until we reach 25 reviews!**


	11. Childhood Companion

**WooHoo! Another update! And all of the reviews... THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! You *sniff* made my week worth it... haha well I'm not totally pathetic, anyways. Sweet! **

**Now, we need to talk. Well, not all to serious, but I haven't got any picture submissions! I really want them! So bad!**

**Disclaimer is on my profile.**

**(Remember, this is three hours previous to the previous event.)**

* * *

Aoubi rolled his eyes at the shocked expressions on the three Sohmas' faces. Really, he was surprised that none of them had figured it out any sooner. Honestly, anyone who shared a room with Yuki Sohma for long periods of time were bound to pick up stalking habits eventually... and besides, whether Yuki was aware of it or not, Aoubi had been around much longer than most. "Don't bother calling the police on me, it won't do you any good. I'm influential enough that it won't matter even if I raped the chief's son, which, by the way, it completely unappealing to me." Hmph. He allowed that o sink in for about three seconds, before promptly pushing Dr. Sohma in the room with the two middle school students, and producing a second key from his pocket, he locked it once more, entrapping the three inside. Ah, how he wished that it had been he and Yuki locked in a room together, which would hopefully soon come to pass, considering the circumstances.

Aoubi smirked as the first thud came to the door. He should probably leave before they get smart and find another way it. The key that the young boy had was useless, anyways. It only locked from the outside. Aoubi shivered as another though involving Yuki in a locked room came by. It was strangely arousing how his lovely roommate was unsuspecting of the tall male's fantasies, and just by doing small everyday actions, continued to fuel them. Adorable, even.

* * *

The first time that the long-haired man met Yuki, they were in elementary school. It was a ridiculously expensive private school, in which Aoubi had been accepted due to his father pulling a few strings. The first day of school, he had been unknowingly lucky to have been placed in a perfect spot to view Yuki from a distance. At first, he had merely been intrigued with the fact of how the tiny boy could miss every other day of school, come back with bandages covering his entire body, and still have absolutely impeccable grades. It had been jealousy at first, which caused Aoubi to want to "know thine enemy". The more he came to know about the beautiful boy, the more the line between love and hate blurred. Even at such a young age, Aoubi believed he knew exactly what love meant.

The first time Aoubi had met Yuki personally occurred much later. They were in their second year of middle school, and during that time, he had grown to hate the dual-haired Sohma beyond measure, for his unwanted closeness to what he knew was his, and he had become to almost depend on the orange haired boy who could always make his love's face shine with tears, creating a lovely image, as well as creating numerous opportunities to step in and comfort the small Sohma. This had first happened when Aoubi followed Yuki behind the large building after school, where Yuki had undoubtedly gone to cry without having to draw any attention to himself. The fiery Sohma had been outside of the school gates, not being allowed inside due to the fact that he wasn't a student attending this particular school, but he had yelled to Yuki, calling him terrible names and such. It didn't take much for Yuki to simply turn around, holding back tears, and to nearly run to his sanctuary at the back of the school.

When Yuki believed himself to be hidden, he started to sob, he sobbed gorgeous tears, creating a wonderfully seductive image before Aoubi, who had stepped out after watching the scene for a few wonderful moments. He had introduced himself with a suave smile and charming words, causing the smaller boy to blush and fidget in his seat. Aoubi had to use all of his restraint. _"It's cold outside, and I seem to have forgotten my jacket. Would you care to replace it's position?"_ This was all he needed to start a continuous cycle. "Influence" torment over Yuki, and step in as the saint-like comforter. It was a perfect relationship. Then, the idiotic Sohma, Hatsuharu, just had to step in, he just had to continue to torment the seemingly perfect Aoubi. Yuki changed schools, and the lovely Sohma never (knowingly) saw Aoubi again. At least, until they became roommates.

During their time apart, Aoubi found new means to continuously check on his love. His father  
passed away "peacefully in his sleep", and the tall student suddenly had more to use. Video cameras installed, bugs, microphones, the occasional stolen clothing item, which Yuki naively took to be his own clumsiness, and, of course, the strategically placed photographer in the locker room. All of it was necessary to keep what was his safe.

* * *

The long-haired man called his car down. Without any words exchanged between himself and the driver, they arrived at the door of what could be described, on the outside, at least, as a family friendly house. Aoubi exited the car swiftly. He didn't bother knocking, since he had sent a text to let the men inside know to be expecting him, but not his position, however. Without him, none of them would even be there. He was more influential, apparently, than even he could have ever expected. The bespectacled college student surveyed the room. Sprawled on the sofa was someone he knew well, and wished would die a painful death at times: Tamaki. His long-time... companion, for lack of more "expressive" words. Throughout the entrance room, random people were placed here and there, but what caught his attention was the ethereal being in the comer of the hall. Yuki. Yuki, bound, his wrists tied behind his back, his legs tied all the way down. Yuki, blindfolded and obviously disoriented. If the two were in different surroundings, one of Aoubi's fantasies would have been checked off of the list, but, sadly, that wasn't the case. He would have to make due with his less-than-innocent mindset.

Tamaki glared at the newcomer. Freaking Aoubi, looking like he want's to burst a certain-someone's cherry. Pathetic. He's got no chance. "So," the redhead began, not one for formalities. "What the hell do you want? Don't overstay your welcome, just hurry up and finish your business, whatever it is." The older student hardly spared him a glance. "Of course, _kouhai_. Am I correct in my assumption that Yu – the Sohma, I mean, is incapable of comprehension right now?" "Geez, you sure know your vocab..." muttered Tamaki. "Yeah, he's all drugged up. So?" Aoubi smiled. "Perfect. In that case, I'll need the chemical you used. I'm assuming that it isn't merely chloroform." The younger male rolled his eyes. "Yeah, it is. I sure as heck know what it is, but Xing said it's fine, and it sure is working, so It should be good." He motioned for Xing to retrieve the drug. Within five minutes, it was obediently placed in Aoubi's hand. It was promptly placed in said person's coat pocket.

"Thank you. Now, I will just take dear Yuki over there, and be on my way. I appreciate your help." Aoubi walked over to Yuki and gently hoisted him over his shoulder. "WAIT! You can't!" Everyone stopped what they were doing, and turned to Tamaki, and looked at him strangely. An outburst was usually unlike him. He flushed. "I-I'll take him down. Xing and I will. You head over there first, we'll meet you there." Aoubi sighed. "Why would I even consider doing such a thing?" There was a slight pause, before Xing, thank the heavens, intervened. "First off, it would be quicker for the two of us, and possibly one more, to go straight through the mountain pass. What you're carrying is an illegal drug, which needs to be handled carefully. That includes elevation regulations, which does not include the mountain pass. We'll meet you there." The white-haired man looked at the Chinese one suspiciously. "Hm. I'll take up your opinion with the boss. In, the meantime," Aoubi shifted Yuki into a bridal position, "I will take Yuki and – " "NO!" This drew an exasperated sigh from Aoubi. "Pray tell, Tamaki, what it is this time. Please realize that I hold more standing than you in this situation. Please, shed on me the meaning of your words quickly, before I get angry, and do something I might regret, such as allowing myself to act shamefully in Yuki's presence." Tamaki stood firm. "Just leave him here."

A moment of revelation and understanding came to Aoubi. This did nothing to improve his mood, in fact, it caused him to seethe. How dare he... how dare Tamaki have these feelings towards... well, regardless, he meant what he said by not wanting to become uncontrolled in Yuki's presence, even if said person was unaware of it. If this was to be possible, he supposed that he wouldhave to withdraw. For now.

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**I am actually pretty happy with this chapter, even though it's totally cliche and cheesy, well, whatever. The words practically flowed through my fingers! I guess that actually sitting at a desk and typing as opposed to sitting on a bed and wincing from the bright light really makes a difference... anyways... keep reviewing! Look forward to the next chapter! The end is almost upon us!... In a few more chapters, anyway... **

**Another thing: I have become a beta. Woo! However, I still need a beta for my own stories, 'cause for some reason, I can never seem to catch my own mistakes, no matter how hard I try!**


	12. Consciousness

**Hey guys! I LOVE YOUR REVIEWS! Oh man, I'm going to make you guys a shrine... Okay, now, I know you all must be totally confused with what the happs is going on with Rin, and this chapter will catch you all up on it. Also, regarding Rin's behavior, or her "doings", I tried to make hints in previous chapters... I don't think they were very obvious though... hmm... Well, this story will now be coming to a near close. I have sincerely enjoyed writing for you all, and I give you my love! The chapter after this will be a preview for this story's sequel, which will be posted after New Year. Please enjoy this last chapter of _The Eye of the Storm_, which may or may not be abrupt, and please enjoy!**

**Disclaimer is on my profile**

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PRESENT TIME: WITH RIN

Her chest was heaving. She – Rin, had actually shot someone. No, several someones, all of whom were strewn across the road. Oh help, Rin had _shot_ someone! She had only meant for the gun to be a form of protection, or even a bluff, but never to actually, you know... Regardless of the shock that was slowly seeping in, Rin ran towards the absolutely totaled car. Her boots made crunching noises against the gravel that they were pounding on as she moved faster and faster. Yanking the car door open, she tried her best not to be repulsed by the crushed form of the driver, who was smashed in between the front of the car, which had been rammed in by a massive tree, and the back of his seat. The black-haired beauty forcefully pushed back her gag reflex as she looked for her now-found relative. Ah! Unconscious, in the back seat, sprawled on top of another man who also appeared to be knocked unconscious. She had been nearly certain that there had been someone in the passenger seat, but she didn't care to know either way. Now, she just wanted to hurry and get out of here. Struggling, she managed to lift Yuki off of the now-groaning man. She kicked said man in the head for good measure it wouldn't do her any good if she was caught now.

Earlier this month, she had placed various bugs on to Yuki's portable possessions, including most of the Prince's shoes. Call her paranoid, but Rin wasn't exactly fond of the idea that her boyfriend – former boyfriend – was more interested in a "friend" than to her. She had been suspicious of Yuki, and had been paranoid enough to try and catch him in the act. After the kidnapping, she had gone to Haru, against her better judgment, and had tried to explain what she had done, or at least, had been trying to get to it, but that had ended up in disaster. She couldn't tell anyone else what she had done, either, because most likely that would tell the police, and she would be arrested for illegally placing bugs in someone's possessions. So, she did what she had to do. It had taken her a while to get the program in to her phone, a few days, at least, and had followed the tracker with her car. Her paranoia wasn't for nothing. It just wasn't what she expected it to be for.

Rin didn't know why she was doing this. It certainly wasn't for herself, obviously, and she wasn't with Hatsuharu anymore, but... Screw it. Rin didn't enjoy sentimentality. What she needed now was to phone her ex, and an ambulance.

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_Seven months later_

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Yuki carefully wheeled his chair down the ramp of the hospital. He was finally being discharged, after waiting over half of a year to leave the white-filled hallways. He arrived at the metal doors, and pressed the down button of the elevator. He clumsily rolled in to the small space, and hit the 2nd floor button, which was where the cafeteria, as well as his family, were located. As the large doors closed, he reflected on his stay here.

_The young man slowly opened his eyes. All that he was currently able to register was the pain in his arm... and the lack of feeling, _any _feeling, in the place where his legs were supposed to be. "Yuki! Thank goodness you're awake!" The wind was knocked down on him as his hyperactive cousin jumped to hug him. "Momiji, get! Yuki, what the hell?! Are you okay? You aren't some sort of invalid now, right!?" To his surprise, It was Kyou who had said this. He looked up questioningly. The redhead quickly contorted his worried expression into an angry scowl. "...I'm fine. Thank you." There was a pause. "Stupid cat." Said person huffed, but, with great strength, did not retaliate, which surprised the young man. Suddenly, another weight crashed on to his chest. "Yuki! Thank goodness you're alright! We've all been so worried! Are you hungry? Do you need anything?" He chuckled. Of course, Tohru would be one of the first to visit a sick family member. Which reminded him... why was he even here? Suddenly, the door opened, and in walked Hatsuharu, who had dark circles underneath his eyes. The minute the bi-colored male's brown eyes discovered an awake Yuki, he ran towards him and nearly lifted him out of the bed with the force of his hug. A small yelp came out of his mouth at this unexpected gesture. Then, the door opened a second time, revealing three individuals. One, with long, silver hair, another, with a tired face and green eye, and the third, and unfamiliar face with a lab coat, who must have been his doctor. With the three appearances, many dramatic tears, reproving head-thumps, and angered yelling occurred which were all quelled when the silent question was asked. _

_"Why am I here?"_

_There was a deafening silence. It seemed as though every one in the room had been struck dumb. Suddenly, after glancing at the two other men, the doctor cleared his throat, and looked at Yuki pityingly. "Young man, from what your brother, and the rest of your family members have explained to me, you were in a very terrible car crash, as well as shot in the shoulder with a gun. As for who is the suspect of firing the gun - " Hatori cleared his throat at this as well, and looked at the doctor, who's eyes were now filled with awareness. "Well, anyways, you seemed to have developed amnesia, as well as the loss of the use in both of your legs, I am deeply sorry."_

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Yuki was brought back to the present as the elevator doors dinged, and alerted him to his arrival of the second floor. He as brought to face both Hatsuharu and Momiji. "We got bored of waiting for you," Momiji explained with a smile. Since his first waking up, it appeared that Hatsuharu had designated himself as a form of Yuki's personal bodyguard, as well as, surprisingly enough, Momiji, who had surpassed his own height and stature within the past few months that he was here. This brought a smile to his face. The two escorted him down to the cafeteria, where the purple-eyed boy spotted a few of his family members, such as Hir and Kisa, Kyou, Tohru, Ayame, Hatori, as well as Kagura and Ritsu. It had been deemed that Yuki would stay with his older brother, who had become his legal guardian, courtesy of the court. There was someone who was in the group who he didn't recognize, however. Hatsuharu gestured to said person. "Yuki, I'd like you to meet my friend, Tamaki. I've told him all about you, and he was aware of when you were k... of when the car you were in, crashed." Yuki's memory of the crash had still yet to return, and all he knew of it was what he had been told on that first day of consciousness. The redhead refused to meet Yuki's gaze, but blushed and clutched one of his arms. "Hey," he mumbled in greeting.

After much celebration, he excused himself to the restroom, ignoring Haru's teasing of him needing any help. He could at least do this much, he wasn't a complete invalid.

His business finished, Yuki washed his hands in the empty bathroom, the sound of the water in the near silence relaxing. Breaking the silence, the sound of his ringing phone shattered the peaceful air. Fumbling with said device, he answered after checking the caller ID. No name. "Hello, Yuki speaking." Silence, and then, "Yuki, I am so glad to hear your voice after so long."

"I'm sorry, who is this? I apologize if I should know you, but you see, I - "

"Yes, I am aware of your amnesia. You see, love, the two of us are in a relationship."

"You mean, like, dating?"

"...Of course. It saddens me to hear you speak to me with such an unfamiliar tone."

The voice had taken a teasing sort of change, but even so, the silver-haired man felt guilty beyond belief.

"I am so sorry! Please, tell me your name, and I will most definitely become familiar with you once again!"

No words were said, and yet Yuki could tell at the other end of the phone, the person was smiling.

"No worries, I will come to pick you up soon. You can call me Aoubi." The phone line cut off right as someone else walked in to the bathroom. _Aoubi__, I promise that I will definitely become familiar with you once again!_ Yuki though to himself as he placed his phone back in his pocket. Unknowingly to him, the other person in the room sent a text to someone, in chinese, his long black hair flipped behind his back.

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**Thank you all for your dedication to my story! Please look out for the sequel's preview! Review to add to my shrine!**


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